New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1887-07-10
DECLINE OF A GREAT ORDER.
CONDITION OF THE KNIGHTS OF LABOR.
SKETCHES OF THEIR LEADERS AND THE pIsonp.

| The condition Of the Knights OF Labor is suoh
as to give serious concern to those who have the
interest Of the labor movement generally and the
order especially at heart, and it is the general
opinion that unless some immediate action is taken
to allay the i'll feeling which exists not only
between the knights and other trades organiza-
TONS but between different factions in the order
itself, its days of usefulness will soon be over,
If, indeed it does not fall to pieces and 30 out of
existence.
| little over year ago General Master Work
man Powderly was at the head of a strong. COM
pact organization, numbering threcquarters of a
million toilers lie was looked upon as a second
Moses, and his lightest word was regarded as law.
Relations of the most friendly character existed
between the Knights and the powerful trades
unions, many of which were seriously considering
the proposition to give up their separate organi-
cations and go into the Knights in a body. To
day the Knights strong numerically, per-
haps, as they at that time, but the character
of the membership has materially changed In all
PARTS of the country the skilled mechanics the
men who gave strength to the organization
leaving it by scores, and their lIaces are being
filed by the more ignorant and worse paid class
OF laborers, men who have conception of the
aim of the order, who look on it simply as
machine which will at force their wages up
and which will enable them to dictate In the most
outrageous fashion to the EN-. loye S, who hurry
the order into the most senseless strikes from
which the leaders seem to be utterly unable to
eXtrlcatc Them except at the cost of leaving them
worse off than before both materially and morally.
The order itself is to-day broken up into cliques
and factions, each one of which is more anxious
to cut the others throat than it is 70 devote its
energies to the common welfare and to the further
ing of the principles on which the order is founded
by persistent course Of unwarranted interference
In trade affairs the good will of the big trades
unions has been turned to active hatred mingled
with fear and it is impossible to go to meeting
of local or district assembly of the knights Of
Labor of trades union without hearing more
than half of the time devoted to the denunciatlon
of some other local or district assembly or trades
union. The word of General Master Workman
Powderly, from being law, is the signal for
determined opposition from large and influential
section of the order.
AS result of this state of affairs the Knights
of Labor may be credited during the past year
and half with an unbrolxen record Of defeats
whenever it has joined issue with employers. The
only exception to this was the street troubles
In this city, which were won by the men them
selves without the interference by the general
executive board. beginning with the Southwest
railroad strikes taking in the efpaclSers strike
IN Chicago, the knit goods strike in Amsterdam,
the laundry workers strike in Troy, the cotton
strikes In Augusta Ca, the longshoremens strike
in this city and the shoe troubles in Massachusetts,
and countless smaller strikes throughout the coun-
try, all have been dismal failures which have left
the order in state Of financial collapse and with
prestige almost entirely destroyed The causes
which have led TO this state of affairs are mani
fold. Among the opponents of the present admin
stration it is claimed that the critical condition
Of the order is due to the incompetency and reck-
less personal ambitions of the present executive
officers of the order. The men who have the power
now are Terence V. Powderly. the general master
workman Charles ii. Litchman, general secretary
Thomas b. Barry, John w. Hayes, William ii.
Bailey, Albert o. Carlton, Thomas H. McGuire
and Ira b. Aylesworth forming the general execu-
tive board.
Mr.. powderly is q man Of ability-even his
worst enemies admit that-but it is claimed by
his enemies that he is extremely susceptible to
nattcry. proud Of his position and willing to do
ANYTHING to retain it and without the backbone
to do what he knows is right when he thinks it
will be unpopular In other words the position
has outgrown his ability to fiji it. Charles H.
Litchman is q sharp, shrewd politician knows
what he wants and generally manages to get 1t.
lie has a great deal of influence with Powderly'
and is n bitter opponent of trades unions. lie
comes from Massachusetts and has been called the
"Ben Butler" of the order. lie aspires TO the
general master workmanship Thomas Is. Barry
the senior member of the general executive BOARD
a. an axe maker by trade. lie comes from East
saginaw, where he is extremely popular. lie Is
not an educated man, but has fund oil common
sense which makes up in part for the dehclehcy'
Barry is one of the hardest fighters on the ooard
and has a record OF being the most successful IN
the settlement of trouble. John w. Hayes is at
present proprietor of grocery store In New-bfuhs-
wick New-Jersey. lie was railroad brakeman
md lost an arm while at work lie then learned
telegraphy, but at the time of the big strike IN
1883 went into the grocery business lie Is man
Of ordinary intelligence little force OF character
and does as Powderly tells him.
William H. Bailey is a coal miner and halls
from shawnee, Ohio, where h was for several
wears Chief of Police. lie is man OF immense
phvsicaI power, but otherwise is not heaVy
weight and what he doesn't know ABOUT mining
strikes would fiji book. Albert .. Carlton, OF
Massachusetts, is a shoemaker by trade lie Is u
man of good education and is one of the conserva-
tive rombcrs Of the order He is leader Of big
district Assembly No. 30 of Massachusetts, but
hos not narticularly distinguished himseikone way
or the other since he became member OF the |
hoard Thomas b. MCGUIRE, of New-lork, Is re- |
corded MS the Mephistopheles of the board lie
10 Now Yorker q truck driver, and the represen-
tative Of District Assembly No. 40. lie has the
crcdit Of having organized the Home Club, ana
on its ruins the "class" Mcclure is man OF
strong personality, hard fighter and has natural
talent for intrigue and combination lie has
many bitter enemies, and in his efforts to knock
them out is given credit for nearly all the Ills
vpacr which the Knights are now suffering Up |
20 tho Cleveland session Of the General Assembly |
he and the Home Club faction were bitter enemies
90 powderly and Iitchman, but it WAS found there
that unless combination was made poth the
factions stood good chance of being wiped OUT
Through Mc(iuircs efforts the combination was